Resident Spotlight: JoAnne Ando

Resident JoAnne Ando has studied and worked in various occupations during her life and has had interesting experiences. She moved to Valle Verde 5 years ago, and said, “I like the friendly people here who are willing to help others. I also like working at the Library and La Tienda.”

JoAnne said, “I was born in Rochester, New York, also known as Kodak Country. I studied piano at the Eastman School for 4 years. Then I went to Oberlin College in Ohio. I chose to go there because they had no sororities and had an excellent reputation. I majored in Chemistry Premed and graduated from Oberlin in 4 years with a degree in Chemistry Premed.”

“Then I went to New Haven, Connecticut and worked as a chemist for 4 years. While there, I got married, divorced and married again.” She continued, “My husband and I came to Santa Barbara in 1961 where we had 2 children. Then I got bored and looked for jobs. One was as secretary to the Chief of Police. I applied and was accepted and worked there for 11 years. Then, I went to Santa Barbara City College for a year and took Computer Programming courses. I got a job at EG&G, a scientific firm for detectors, mostly nuclear. I liked it and was there for 13 ½ years. At that time, the company decided to leave the area, so I had to look for another job. I got one at UCSB doing computer programming. I retired in 2003 and stayed home with my husband who developed Parkinson’s disease. He died in 2007.”

JoAnne told about another interesting activity of hers. She said, “During my time in Santa Barbara, I sang with the Choral Society and soloed at church. At City College, I sang solos and operas with the Opera Workshop and totally enjoyed it.”

JoAnne Ando has done many things and accomplished much in her life. She described everything with pleasure and seems to be enjoying her life now.

A special thanks to resident, Dorothy Steck for writing this article.